The bodies of 16 people drowned in the canal have been repatriated to Iraq Migration News

The mourners gather in Erbil to mourn the victims of a shipwreck in the waters between the UK and France on 24 November.

The bodies of 16 Iraqi migrants and Kurdish refugees, who itota when they were trying to cross the English Channel last month when their shipwreck was inflated, they returned to Iraq.

On Sunday, a plane carrying the bodies landed at Erbil International Airport, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region.

Ambulances then carried the coffins to their hometowns.

The video released by Rudaw showed relatives grieving that the coffins were being carried from the airport.

“The last time I heard my son’s voice was when he got on the boat. “Don’t worry mom, I’ll be in England soon,” she said. Now he has returned to me in a coffin, ”said Shukriya Bakir.

The November 24 disaster, in which 27 people were killed, was the deadliest on record. migrants and refugees Trying to cross the canal from France to the UK. The victims were seven women, a 16-year-old boy and a seven-year-old child.

In addition to the 16 Kurds in Iraq, the 26 victims identified were one Iranian Kurd, four Afghans, three Ethiopians, one Somali and one Egyptian.

Over the past decade, hundreds of thousands of people have arrived in Western Europe with the help of smugglers – fleeing conflict, persecution and poverty – on epic journeys from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan and elsewhere. Few are welcome.

Iraq is no longer at war since the defeat of ISIL (ISIS) in 2017, but with rising unemployment and lack of basic services, as well as a political system that most Iraqis believe is corrupt and nepotistic, many see little chance of a decent life. at home.

The UK, meanwhile, has seen more and more people fleeing conflict or poverty in recent months trying to reach its shores in search of asylum or better opportunities.

Many are endangered by dangerous voyages in a small, non-state ship coming from France, which has tripled this year compared to 2020.

The UK and France have promised to step up measures to reduce the number of people trying to cross the canals, but diplomatic tensions between allies. chopped after the November incident.

French President Emmanuel Macron accused UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson of being “not serious” in his approach to stopping crossings on the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Paris was outraged by Johnson’s initial reaction to the disaster, which saw it diverted blame to France.

Critics of the Johnson Conservative government, including rights groups and opposition politicians, have accused him of failing to open safe and legal avenues for asylum seekers, forcing them to make dangerous attempts to cross paths with those ready to reach the UK. .

In almost all cases, the UK expects people to be physically within its borders before applying for asylum.